The Problem of Pete
by vjdo
Summary: There he was. That smiling, idiotic face. Pete. What in the world she saw in him, Jack had no idea


There he was. That smiling, idiotic face. Pete. What in the world she saw in him, Jack had no idea. And now Pete was here to meet Sam's father.

Jack comforted himself with the fact that in Jacob's eyes, Jack was practically a member of the family. _But Pete's available and you aren't. Bah!_

Jack felt the jealousy boiling up inside of him. He knew he had no justification. She wasn't his to keep. But somehow, until Pete came along, Jack never thought he could really lose her. In the back of his mind he had always assumed that somehow she would just keep working at the SGC, never having a life, always focused on work. Always devoted to Jack in that mutual understanding that they had. _You know you wouldn't want that for her. You always want the best for her. Well, this time you can't give her what she wants._

_And now she wants Pete._ Jack figured that if Sam ever did find somebody else to really love, that it would be a man who was more worthy of her...someone who had been through more in life...someone more like, well, like Jack.

Jack's thoughts were interrupted as Pete, Sam and her Father came out of the Sam's office. Pete had a nervous smile. It did take a lot of guts to meet your future father-in-law, and in this case he got a double dose of intimidation because he also had to meet the 2,000 year old Tok'ra, Selmak who lived inside of Jacob.

Jack was caught off guard as they came out and he compensated by turning away and looking fascinated by a speck on the plain grey SGC wall. "Jack!" called Jacob, relieved to see someone comfortable and friendly after that awkward meeting with Pete. Jacob shook Jack's hand enthusiastically. Jacob turned to his daughter, "Sam, I am going to eat lunch with Jack here. You kids run off and have fun." _Well this is interesting._ Jack felt like he was gloating. He wasn't sure why exactly, but yes, it was definitely gloating.

As Jacob and Jack walked down the corridor towards the mess hall, Jacob lowered his voice as he spoke to Jack. "Where did she meet this guy? Does he always smile like an idiot?"

Jack desperately wanted to commiserate with Jacob, but he realized he was being unfair to Sam. "To be honest, sir, he does seem to make her happy." _If only I could be the one to make her happy._

"Jack," Jacob stopped walking and put his hand on Jack's shoulder. "There's happy and then there's content. Pete makes Sam happy because he is like easy entertainment. He's safe and he never gets too close to break through her walls. But I don't think he is going to make her content. I think she needs an equal partner. Someone who is a match for her. Someone who knows her inside in her deepest places. Someone she can respect. Jacob looked at Jack as if he were trying to make an important point.

Jack started to sweat a little. Was Jacob talking about him? Was he the person Sam could respect? Or was Jacob just talking generalities? It was bad enough having to avoid the issue with Sam, but having to dodge the issue with her dad seemed even worse. Jack decided to go with the best response he could muster.

"Oh?"

Jacob got a twisted smile on his face. "Come on, Jack. Let's speak man to man here. I know how you feel about Sam. And I know how she feels about you, even though neither one of you is good at admitting it. Now listen to me. She is engaged to Pete. Engaged! Do you realize what that means? It means you can't pussyfoot around anymore. If you want her, you have got to say something! Otherwise you are going to lose her forever."

More panic. Jack's mind went completely blank.

"Really?" was all Jack could manage to say out at the moment.

Jacob looked irritated. "Fine. Say nothing. I'm sure Sam will be very _happy_ with Pete." Jacob turned abruptly and walked away.

Jack was left in the hallway wondering where things had gone wrong. A minute ago Jacob couldn't stand Pete. A minute ago Jack was gloating over being Jacob's favorite. Now he was kicked to the curb. He pressed his hand to his forehead. Thinking this much gave him a big headache.

Jack arrived at the mess hall by himself and looked around. There was Sam, enjoying her lunch with Pete. If they fed each other anything, Jack was going to hit something. He scanned the mess hall, desperately searching for a lunch companion who wasn't Sam. _I feel like I'm in junior high again, alone in the lunch room. Where are Teal'c and Daniel? I need some help here, guys. The one day you aren't here..._

Sam waved at Jack, "Sir, over here." Pete looked slightly annoyed. _Good. If I am still annoying to him, then I still have a chance. _

"Where's my dad?" asked Sam. _Well, he ran off after telling me that I needed to get my act together or I was going to lose you._

"He just remembered he had an appointment somewhere else."

"Oh, OK. Well, you can join us."

"Thanks, Sam, but I don't want to interrupt your _Date_." Jack put a special emphasis on the word "date," for no other reason than to show he was irritated. "I already told...Felger...that I was sitting with him. _Great. Now Felger is my best choice of a lunch partner. This day is just getting better and better. _Jack headed over to Felger's table and as Felger saw that Jack was joining him, he looked positively joyful. _Glad I could make someone happy today._

Two minutes later, Sam placed her tray on the table beside Jack. "Pete had to get back to work. I'm going to join you guys." Felger looked even more excited. Captain Carter at his table? He was definitely going to have to call his mom about this one.

Jack tried to avoid looking at Sam. He asked Felger a technical question about his latest experiment, and to Jack's relief, the scientist prattled on and on, allowing Sam and Jack no opportunity to talk. _I'm going to have to thank Felger somehow for this one._

The next day, Jack was on the phone with Kerry Johnson. They had been going out lately. Jack really did enjoy Kerry's company, but to be truthful, he had only started dating her because Sam was with Pete. Jack figured that if Sam was going to be happy with someone else, then he could be, too. But today he couldn't muster up the enthusiasm, and he ended the phone conversation without making a date. Better to just spend the weekend alone at his house. When he kissed Kerry, he inevitably got a picture of Sam in his head. He knew that wasn't fair to Kerry, and he could do without feeling guilty for awhile.

Just as Jack had gotten himself settled in front of the TV for a weekend of solitude, his doorbell rang. "Come!" he called, and looked up just in time to see Pete walk in. _Oh no. I should have pretended I wasn't home._

"Hi Jack, do you remember me? I'm Pete, Sam's fiance?" _How could I forget about you, you..._

Pete smiled sheepishly. "I'm sorry to bother you." _Then why did you?_

"Sooo...are you enjoying your weekend?" _Is he trying to make small talk?_

"Spit it out, Pete. I know you came here for a reason."

"Well yes, you're right. It's just...Sam has been distracted lately and I thought maybe you might know the reason."

"Oh?" Jack's heart started beating faster. Was Pete going to say that Jack was the reason Sam had been distracted? Was he here to confront him?

Pete continued on, not noticing the wary look in Jack's eyes. "Yeah. I mean, I know that you and Sam work together very closely. And I thought that maybe you might know what's going on with her. It's like lately her mind is constantly in another place. I thought that maybe she was worried about something that is going on at work. I know she is not allowed to tell me about a lot of the things things that happen to her at work because of all the national security issues.

Jack felt relieved that Pete didn't want to confront him, and he managed to pull up a somewhat skeptical look in response to Pete's question. Pete continued on. "I'm not asking you to actually tell me anything specific. I...I guess I was just hoping you could tell me that I shouldn't worry. Or that you could tell me that there really is something really big going on at work that is distracting her and that it has nothing to do with me." _Oh, this guy's nervous look is even worse than his perpetually happy look._

"Pete." Jack ran his hand through his hair. "There is nothing going on at work."

"No?"

"No. Absolutely nothing."

Pete looked crestfallen. Jack felt a little guilty, but he was only telling Pete the truth. "You should be talking to Sam about this, not me. Don't 'ya think?"

Pete stammered. "I..I..know. I just...She won't tell me what's going on. I was wrong to come here. Sorry to bother you."

Jack let Pete go. Maybe he should have stopped him, made him feel better, but he didn't. Jack wasn't good at these things. Didn't the universe know better than to throw him things that were beyond his ability level? Give him a Goa'ould to aggravate. That was more his talent. Jack sat down and immersed himself in the very stress free world of Homer.

An hour later, the doorbell rang again. Jack walked slowly towards the door. _Oh, please don't let it be Pete again._

No, it was even worse. It was Carter.

"Hi, sir." Sam's voice sounded hesitant and somewhat squeaky. "I'm sorry to bother you at home like this."

"Carter. You are never a bother. You are always a delight."

Sam gave him a slightly strange look. "Thank you, sir. Can I talk to you for a moment?"

"Sure. Let's talk on the deck." Jack led her around to the back of the house. It was a perfect evening in his back yard. The sun was just setting and the sweet smell of newly mown grass and fresh spring flowers filled the air. His back yard was surrounded by trees and it really was a very beautiful place to watch the sun set.

As Jack paused to let Sam walk by him, her skirt fluttered against his legs. She was wearing a skirt? Jack was so used to her BDU's, that it took him a moment to recover himself. Sometimes it was easier to think of her as one of the guys.

Sam sat on the deck swing, smoothing out her skirt. Jack sat down beside her. _Sam's skirt. Why can't I get my mind of her skirt? Think, O'Neal. Think about bad mess hall food, and sharp thorns, and Goa'ould menaces. Think about anything else other than how beautiful she looks at the moment._

Sam spoke first. "I don't know what to do about Pete." Yup. That took care of Jack's distraction. The thought of Pete is a bigger downer than Goa'oulds any day.

"Really?" _I_ _just wanted a weekend away from all of this. Why can't they go solve their relationship problems on their own?_

"I...it's just...I'm not sure about Pete. And I think if you marry someone you should be very sure of yourself."

"You're the one who said yes." Jack flicked a bottle top off the deck.

"I know I said yes. It's just that I don't want to end up alone. I don't want to find myself an old lady at the SGC, with nothing but my plants and a bunch of cats to take care of."

"So you thought out of all the people in the world, that Pete was the best one to keep you from being an old spinster." Jack gave Sam an intense, piercing look. Then he felt bad. _I really shouldn't be hard on her. I do want her to be happy. Why does my worse side always get the best of me?_

Sam squirmed under Jack's gaze. "What about you, sir?"

_What about me? _Jack felt confused for a moment.What exactly was she asking?_ Is she asking if I want to have a family again someday? Is she asking me if I want to be with her? How do you answer a question when you don't know exactly what the other person is asking?_

Jack had to come up with some sort of reply. "Sam, I think you should be talking to Pete about this." _Good one, Jack. Avoid the question altogether._

Sam looked a little crestfallen. "Yes, you're right. I shouldn't have come here."

Sam started to get up, but Jack's hand gently touched her arm, and guided her back onto the deck swing.

Sam looked at Jack like she was waiting for him to say something. _This is it. The big moment. I have to say something now or forever hold my peace. Say something. Spit it out O'Neill. C'mon._

"Sam. I can't stand the thought that I could lose you." _There. Whew. He had said it. _

Sam looked questioningly into Jack's eyes. The answer was there. He stared back at her with an intensity that she had never quite seen before.

Jack had to push himself to talk more. He knew that for once that he couldn't just get away with a simple look. "I love you. And I will always love you. Always."

Now that Jack had put himself on the line, he started to feel a sort of panic. If was an awful panic, like he wanted to run off to another planet and never talk to another human being again. The words were now out there. Years of being quiet, of communicating only through looks and innuendo had worked so well. Now the words themselves had taken on a life of their own. They had gone out into the universe and they couldn't be taken back. _What if she doesn't feel the same way? What if she tells me she loves Pete? What if I die here tonight, on my deck, as a result of the pure misery of knowing I will never be with her?_

Then other thoughts started crowding in. _If she does love me, then how do we make this work? How can we be together when the rules tell us that we can't?_

Sam knew now what she needed. All that time of questioning about her future with Pete, she had really only needed one thing. She had needed Jack to say something. And now he had.

"I love you, too." _What was that? Did she just say she loved me, too?_

Jack looked at Sam and his panic started to recede, as it was replaced by a warm sensation.

"What? What did you just say?" He had to make sure he wasn't just imagining it.

"I said I love you too, Jack. I have always loved you. I would have told you sooner, but I just didn't see any way for us to be together."

"Yeah, I know. But I think we need to find a way to make it work. I just can't go back to the way it was."

Maybe for once, they could forget about their problems and save their questions for another day. Maybe for once, they could just enjoy being together.

Jack put his hand over Sam's. He pulled her hand up and kissed it gently. There would be time for more kisses later. But right now, on his deck in his back yard with Sam by his side, everything was perfect. Both of them pushed the deck swing in one motion, and stared off in the distance at the sunset , not talking, just being in the moment. _I don't know what to do about tomorrow. All I know is that this morning she wasn't mine. And now she is._

Jack glanced at Sam. She looked fully and perfectly content. _That's right Jacob. She is not just happy. With me she is going to be both happy and content. Forever and always._


End file.
